Worker from Delhi ‘shocked’ after son held for stone throwing

Nusrat Sidiq
Srinagar: A Muslim factory worker from Delhi who has been living in Srinagar for the past many years had the shock of his life last month when police arrested his 14-year-old son on charges of stone-pelting.
On Friday, March 24, police of MR Gunj station arrested the juvenile, a Class 7 student of Vitasta School at Habbakadal, along with his friend, a local, at Rajouri Kadal. An FIR was lodged under the duo under Sections 148, 149, 152, 332, 336, and 427 of the RPC at MR Gunj police station.
The boy has been released on bail, but his father, Jehangir Khan, is worried. “I don’t know about his involvement in stone-pelting. Firstly I don’t understand what made him pelt stones. I don’t know who has brainwashed him and by pelting stones what is he going to get. He has invited trouble on the whole family. I am an Indian Muslim and have to go back to my ancestral home. The truth is that we will not always remain in Kashmir,” Khan said while talking to Reader.
“My son is just 14 years of age. Today he has thrown a stone, tomorrow he may pick up a gun. I wish that neither him nor the local boys should be part of violent incidents,” Khan said.
Jehangir Khan belongs to Delhi and is presently living at Habbakadal. “I am working in Kashmir for the past 15 years in a factory. The first time I came to Kashmir was in 2002. I brought my family here in 2006. I thought my children will get good education here,” Khan said.
“In these 15 years I have never been to a police station, but on March 24 at 6pm I received a call from some unknown person that my son had been arrested and is at police station MR Gunj. When I went there, the policeman abused me and asked me to show what was in my pocket. On seeing my phone, they asked me where had I got the phone from and who was funding me? I remained quite mute, unable to comprehend the situation. Then the policemen told me, ‘Murga Bano’. My son was also beaten and they were hurling abuses at him in front of me,” Khan said.
Khan’s son said that he was throwing stones just for fun. “I don’t know anything about Azadi. I had no idea it will create problems for me and my family,” he said.
Police officers at MR Gunj station denied allegations of rude behaviour and hurling of abuses at the non-local worker and his son, but said that parents must introspect about their children’s behaviour and keep an eye on their movements.

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Launched in May 2012, Kashmir Reader is one of the leading English language newspapers of Jammu and Kashmir. It’s published daily from Srinagar by Helpline Group, which earned a name and fame in serious journalism